In the mood for some classic literature

[Robert Oz]

I'm in the mood for some classic literature and was hoping to get some suggestions.

Here is a list of what I've already read:

The Three Musketeers
Twenty Years After
Moby Dick
The Time Machine
Dracula
Frankenstein
Many Sherlock Holmes stories
A few Shakespeare plays

I'm leaning towards The Count of Monte Cristo or perhaps trying some Charles Dickens, but am open to other suggestions.

[pakeha]

Whether read before or after the Count, Dickens is always a fantastic choice.
To add a feminine touch to your list, why not add
Persuasion by Jane Austin.

[NWO Sentryman]

The Great Gatsby
Wuthering Heights
The Scarlet Letter

[Praktik]

Dostoyevsky:

White Nights, The Gambler, Notes from Underground

[RoboTimbo]

Jerome K Jerome
PG Wodehouse
Mark Twain

If you like humour

[madurobob]

Throw in some Anton Chekhov... his short stories are incredible. I particularly enjoyed "The Duel".

[D'rok]

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

[RobRoy]

Since you've already read the first two D'Artagnan books, you might as well round out with The Vicomte de Bragelonne (there is also a third sequel to Musketeers called The Son of Porthos but it was written by someone else.

The Man in the Iron Mask
The Count of Monte Cristo

Then there are some other fun classics:

The Scarlett Pimpernell books, there are ten or eleven of these, along with some related short stories and other novels.
Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Jane Austin.

There's a great deal of Jules Vern if you're in the mood:

Journey to the Center of the Earth
From the Earth to the Moon
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Around the World in Eighty Days

How about a little more H.G. Wells:

Island of Dr. Moreau
The War of the Worlds
The Invisible Man

From Dickens you might try:

Great Expectations
Oliver Twist
David Coperfield
A Tale of Two Cities

ETR: duplicate titles.

[oldhat]

The Count of Monte Cristo
Billy Budd

[JJM 777]

From Dickens I recommend Hard Times.

[Morwen]

Another vote for The Count of Montecristo. Also, Stendhal. Any Wilde. Jerome K Jerome, and Wodehouse, strongly seconded. Some of the Chaucer stories are really funny if you're in the mood. For good adventure, Verne or Salgari. I'd also recommend Frankenstein and Dracula. The latter is particularly good as a novel.

[Denver]

In the mood for Poe?

If not, Walden, or the Once and Future King are worth a read.

And if you want a lot of shorter stories, The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus is pretty amazing.

[themusicteacher]

I'm not sure how "classic" you want to go but I really liked East of Eden by Steinbeck.

I didn't really care for Dracula in novel form. It moved very slowly but it's been a while since I tried it. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

Many of you seem to like Monte Cristo. Perhas I'll take a look at that one. You know, in all my spare time.

[JJM 777]

Wait, Call of the Wild by Jack London.

[Madouc]

Count of Monte Cristo is pretty diverting.

Tom Jones, A Foundling is a fun romp

Anything by Jane Austen (apart from Emma) is wonderful.

Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall are pretty good, but the Brontes can get a bit preachy.

Brideshead Revisited

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskall

Rebecca and Frenchman's Creek by Daphne de Maurier - the latter is quite swashbuckling. Jamaica Inn is also very popular, but I find the 'zomg, he is so hot, I don't care if he murdered my aunt" aspect troubling.

[madurobob]

Count of Monte Cristo

Anything by Jane Austen (apart from Emma) is wonderful.



Even better, read Pride and Prejudice in its proper form: with all the zombie mayhem left out by earlier printings.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347)

(It really is amazingly well done)

[CriticalSock]

Zola!
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/z#a528

I read Doctor Pascal first and it turns out that is the last in the series. They pretty much stand alone though. L'assommoir is a cracker too!

Tolstoys War and Peace!
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2600

I don't understand why people say this is a chore to read. I was swept along! Only got bogged down in the appendices.


The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle.
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/903
Conan Doyle trying to write in the style of Sir Walter Scott. Must have read it 10 times at least! Great fun!

[Marduk]

is Conan Doyle classic yet ?
if so anything he wrote
;)

[pakeha]

Is Lovecraft a classic or merely essential reading?
W. Somerset Maugham (short stories)
Robert Graves (short stories)

[hgc]

How about some comedy plays?

First, from the inventor of comedy, Aristophanes -- Lysistrata

then...

As You Like It, by Shakespeare
Tartuffe, by Molière
The Importance of Being Earnest, by Wilde

[bruto]

For Dickens, I recommend Little Dorrit. Dickens can sometimes be a bit thick and wordy with descriptions, but in this one he gets his style in gear.

[TheAnachronism]

I've been re-reading a bunch of the classics that I originally read years ago, and have just finished A Tale of Two Cities. I can't recommend that book enough; it is excellent in every way a book should be excellent.

Also finished Sense and Sensibility. It's pretty taste-specific reading, but it was enjoyable (plus you can watch the recent BBC movie when you're done).

[Hamsterfan]

I would recommend:
Animal Farm
1984

Perhaps not quite classics yet, but good reading nonetheless.